Miniature tube holder



Feb. 12, 1952 M: ALEXY 2,585,072

MINATURE TUBE HOLDER Filed Nov. 21, 1947 ZSnoentor MATTHEW F.ALEXY I an )1 Q (lttorneg V Patented Feb. 12, 1952 Matthew R. Alexy, Philadelphia",- Pa, assig-norto.

Radio. Corporation of; America acorporation of Delaware Application November 21, 1947, Serial No. 787,423

This invention relates to" vacuum-tube=- hold- GBEGE 6116, GAVG-etc.) i havingrio'socket base and wherein the electrode leads per se comprise the tube prongs.

Vacuum tubes without socket-bases are especially susceptible to displacement and to shocks and tremors capable of setting up internal microphonic disturbances. Conventional clamps cannot be applied to the glass walls of such tubes and the special clamps heretofore available are objectionable either because of their high cost or because their holding force is directional in character (i. e. cannot prevent tilting in all directions). Furthermore, the clamps of the prior art cannot ordinarily be used without danger of bending the exposed wire-like terminals of prongless tubes.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tube-clamp which may be applied to the glass envelope of a vacuum tube, and one capable of maintaining the tube against tilting, irrespective of the direction of the tilting force.

Another and related object of the invention is to provide a combined socket and clamp for vacuum-tubes of the general character described and one capable of holding the glass-envelope and the prongless leads of sucha tube without disk of breaking or bending the same when the assembly is subject to tilting or to shocks and tremors of external origin.

Another and important object of the present invention is to achieve the foregoing objects in a structure characterized by the simplicity and economy of its parts.

The invention will be described in connection with accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a vacuum tube socket and clamp assembly constructed in accordance with the principle of the invention and showing a glass vacuum tube, of the types having no socket base, mounted therein.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the vacuum tube and holder assembly of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view, with the tube removed, of the socket and clamp assembly of Figs. 1 and 2, and

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the assembly showing the socket connections for the electrode terminals of the tube.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention which has been selected for purposes of illus- 1 Claim: (01. 248.--3.61)

rivets I l trationa [designates the cylindrical all-glass envelope of a. miniature vacuum tube of the type (say, an RCA 6BE6) wherein the'dependent electrode leads I t, per se, comprise the tube prongs, and 2 designates, generally, ,aspring metal clamp for holding the said tube against displacement in a so-called wafer-type socket 3 which is secured, in a manner later described, to the underside of a metal panel or mounting plate 4. This plate 4 will be understood to have a central opening through which the tube leads It enter the terminals 31' of the socket 3 and, in the instant case, is provided with a pair of oppositely located rivet holes 4a and 41) for attaching the assembly to the metal chassis (not shown) of a radio set or the like. As shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4 the dimensions of the apertured mounting plate 4 may be minimized by making it in the outline of truncated ellipse and by mounting the clamp 2 and the socket 3 thereon at an angle with respect to the long axis of the ellipse.

The clamp 2 of the invention is preferably formed of a single strip of spring metal (e. g. spring-steel or phosphor bronze) and comprises two oppositely located upstanding U-shape portions, and two laterally extending arcuate portions 5 and 6 which respectively connect the upstanding arms 1 and 9 of one U-shape portion to the next adjacent arms 8 and ll! of the other U-shape portion. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2 the upstanding arms of 'each of the U- shape portions '|-B, 8-40 are inclined slightly inwardly so that their upper ends bear against the tube I at diametrically opposite points on the cylindrical glass surface thereof. These four points of contact prevent the tube from tipping to the left or to the right (as viewed in Fig. 2) and the connecting links 5 and 6 which engage the surface of the tube along arcuate lines between the arms 18 and 9--l0 of the Us prevent the tube from tilting forwardly or rearwardly (as viewed in Fig. 2). Although this omnidirectional clamping force is applied to the tube only along the inner edge of the spring metal strip, it not only prevents displacement of the tube in its socket and consequent twisting or bending of the tube leads in the socket terminals, but also minimizes the generation of microphonic disturbances in the internal structure of the tube.

The spring metal clamp 2 and the socket 3 are affixed to the metal mounting plate 4 or, alternatively, to the chassis (not shown), by two and I2 which extend, respectively,

through the base of each U-shape portion of the clamp and through the opposite ends 01' the insulating wafers 3 and 3a of which the socket is comprised. When, as in the illustrated embodiment of the invention the socket is provided with a metal covered centering prong l3 the said prong may be grounded by a metal strap H which extends along the under surface of the socket to one of the rivets II.

It will now be apparent that the present invention provides a simple, inexpensive and trouble-free socket and clamp assembly for electrical components and one which may be applied to the mounting of an all glass tube without danger of breaking the glass or bending the tube terminals.

What is claimed is:

A holder for a cylindrical electrical component, said holder being fabricated of spring metal and comprising a pair of oppositely located U- shape members each having substantiallyparallel upstanding arms, said U-shape members being mounted with their upstanding arms arranged to bear against said component at diametrically opposite points on the cylindrical surface to apply a restraining force thereto, and a pair of outwardly extending curved arms each connecting an upstanding arm of one of said U-shape members with the corresponding arm of the other of said U-shape members, each of said curved arms lying in a plane extending at an acute angle to the plane of the arms which it connects, and adapted to bear against the armate portions of the cylindrical surface of said component which lie between adjacent ones of said points on said surface.

MATTHEW R. ALEXY.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,075,612 Tregoning Oct. 14, 1913 1,730,344 Benjamin Oct. 8, 1929 2,072,952 Jones -s Mar. 9, 1937 2,286,991 MacFadden June 16, 1942 2,372,987 Shaver Apr. 3, 1945 2,388,650 Whittell et al Nov. 6, 1945 

